Drinking and need a ride home? There's a free service for that in Loveland

Jax Liquor launches free limo hotline

By Craig Young Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
05/02/2014 06:33:03 PM MDT

Jax Liquor owner George Attiyeh poses Friday outside his store at 1581 N. Taft Ave. in Loveland. His new Free Limo Hotline will operate on Friday and Saturday nights, between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m., to provide free rides to Loveland bar and restaurant patrons who have been drinking and need a way to get home. (Steve Stoner / Loveland Reporter-Herald)

A free ride

If you've been drinking at a Loveland bar or restaurant, you can call 720-345-1367, the Jax Liquor Free Limo Hotline, to arrange a free ride to your Loveland home between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights.

LOVELAND -- A Loveland liquor store owner wants to make sure you get home safely after drinking at a bar or restaurant, so he'll give you a ride for free.

George Attiyeh, who has owned Jax Liquor for a little over a year, is launching his Jax Liquor Free Limo Hotline this weekend.

On Friday and Saturday nights, between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m., Loveland bar and restaurant patrons who have been drinking can call 720-345-1367 to arrange a free ride home, as long as they live in Loveland.

"Our goal is to make it easier for people to be responsible," said Attiyeh, whose liquor store at 1581 N. Taft Ave. provides free delivery for the same reason.

Attiyeh said he plans to start small. "If it gets bigger, we are willing to do that. We will try to meet the demand," he said.

Loveland's chief of police said he's impressed with Attiyeh's plan.

"My initial reaction to that is that's a very compassionate service provision and way above and beyond what you would reasonably expect from a local business owner," Chief Luke Hecker said.

The service, offered by Attiyeh for the safety of impaired drivers and others on the road, also could benefit bar and restaurant owners, who can be held responsible for the actions of an intoxicated person after he or she leaves an establishment, Hecker said.

"This seems to be very virtuous and highly responsible for somebody who possesses a liquor license himself," he said.

Attiyeh said the free rides home are a way to say thank you to the community.

"Ever since I bought this store, people have been extremely kind and friendly to us," he said.

The service has its limits, though.

"We're not promising to pick them up from home and take them to the bars," he said.